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Somali forces, backed by international partners, kill founding Al-Shabaab figure in Bu'ale raid BU'ALE, Somalia — Somali security forces announced Tuesday that they killed Jaafar Gurey, a senior founding member of the militant Islamist group Al-Shabaab, in a targeted operation in the southern town of Bu'ale, a bastion of the insurgency in Middle Jubba. The Defence Ministry said Gurey, who had worked closely with the group’s former leader Ahmed Abdi Godane and is believed to have ties to the current leader Ahmed Diriye, was…

Analysis: A diplomat’s lonely fight exposes a bigger test for Canada’s foreign service OTTAWA — The room was quiet when Madina Iltireh finished talking. She had just told a small crowd of former colleagues and friends what it felt like to represent Canada abroad while, she says, being made to feel she did not belong. “I was representing Canada, but Canada did not represent me,” she said softly, standing in a downtown Ottawa conference room. “I went through hell.” The hell she describes unfolded thousands of kilometres…

Somali Youth Unemployment Deepens as Foreign Workers Take Local Jobs — A Threat to the Nation’s Future

Kenya’s elite unit thwarts Al-Shabaab IED plot in Garissa after community tip-off NAIROBI — Kenya’s Special Operations Group (SOG) says it disrupted a potentially deadly attack by Al-Shabaab militants in Garissa County after local residents alerted security forces to suspicious activity along a rural stretch of road. Officials reported that eight suspected militants were intercepted on the Welmerer–Yumbia road as they were attempting to assemble improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Security teams engaged the group,…

Somalia’s Jobless Youth and the Expat Premium: What Happens When a Country Outsources Its Future? MOGADISHU — On a hot morning near Kilometre 4, the capital’s arteries of traffic pulse around concrete blast walls and coffee stalls. At a curbside kiosk, a queue of young men and women refresh their phones, swapping links to job ads that feel always just out of reach. Many are college graduates; most live with family; almost all say the same thing: the opportunities are elsewhere. Somalia is far from the only place where a…

Somalia and Rwanda Sign a Cooperation Pact. Here’s Why It Matters Beyond Kigali On a brisk Monday in Kigali, Somalia’s foreign minister, Abdisalam Abdi Ali, and Rwanda’s top diplomat, Olivier Jean Patrick Nduhungirehe, put ink to paper on a General Cooperation Agreement that is modest on its face and ambitious in its implications. The accord promises collaboration in diplomacy, trade, investment, and capacity building—terms that can read like bureaucratic shorthand. But stitched into the fabric of this deal is a larger…

Djibouti’s parliament clears a path for President Guelleh to stay — what it means at home and abroad In a move that tightens the grip of a long-serving leader while exposing a geopolitical paradox, Djibouti’s parliament voted to remove the constitutional age limit for the presidency, effectively opening the door for 77‑year‑old Ismail Omar Guelleh to seek another five‑year term in the April 2026 election. The measure, adopted with the support of 65 members of parliament according to the speaker, Dileita Mohamed Dileita, is…

In London’s Kensington, British‑Somali graduates turn caps and hopes toward a shared future On a mild Sunday in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, blue-and-white ribbons—echoes of the Somali flag—fluttered outside a packed hall as families streamed in, clutching bouquets and camera phones. Inside, as the names of new graduates were called, ululations rose, and elders lifted their hands in prayer. This was the 5th British‑Somali Global Graduation Ceremony, a community rite of passage that has grown into a showcase…

London ceremony spotlights a rising British‑Somali generation and a new model of diaspora engagement On a crisp autumn evening in Kensington and Chelsea, hundreds of family members, politicians and community leaders gathered to celebrate what felt like more than individual degrees: the growing influence of a British‑Somali community staking its claim in Britain’s civic and professional life. The 5th British‑Somali Global Graduation Ceremony, held on 26 October, brought together graduates from leading UK universities and a…

Yemen and Somalia Look to the Gulf of Aden for a Reset — Trade, Flights, and a Security Hedge On a warm Sunday in Aden, inside a government building that has seen more than its share of chapter changes, Yemen’s Transport Minister Dr. Abdisalam Hamid sat down with Somalia’s ambassador, Abdulhakim Mohamed, to talk about rebuilding old routes across a troubled sea. The meeting didn’t produce the flashy, sweeping pledges that crowd the diplomatic calendar. Yet in a region where small steps often foreshadow bigger shifts, their…